MLB

Kuroda rebounds from early struggles, Cano homers to lead Yankees to win

Hiroki Kuroda hadn’t given up more than five hits in any of his starts this season, so when the Blue Jays pounded out six in the first two innings last night, the Yankees seemed to be in trouble.

Suddenly, though, Kuroda righted himself by striking out Jose Bautista to end the second inning and retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced in a 5-3 win in The Bronx.

“You can look at performances and see a guy dominate in a complete game … but this might be his best performance of the year,” manager Joe Girardi said after Kuroda won his third straight decision to improved to 3-1. “To be able to get through six [innings] and not really having his stuff, I thought he really had to grind it out.”

His ability to do so made him the beneficiary of three Yankees homers — including one from Robinson Cano.

Cano’s three-run blast in the third gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The second baseman turned on a 3-1 pitch from Mark Buehrle and sent it deep into the right field seats for his seventh of the year.

It was exactly the way the Yankees were looking to begin a 10-game homestand after dropping three of their last four on the road.

Vernon Wells got the Yankees on the board when he started the bottom of the second with a homer to center off Buehrle (1-1). Wells now has three home runs in his career off the left-hander.

Francisco Cervelli’s homer to left to lead off the bottom of the fourth gave Kuroda some more breathing room.

Kuroda’s turnaround last night was stark. Even though he never felt he was able to fix his mechanics, Kuroda recovered from giving up four hits and a walk in the first and another homer in the second.

“Early on, my pitches weren’t there, especially my sinker,” Kuroda said through a translator. “All I thought about was, ‘Hang in there.’ ”

He wasn’t ready to call it his best start, instead going with “decent.” On this night, decent was good enough.

The Yankees’ third-inning rally began with infield singles by Jayson Nix and Brett Gardner. After Ben Francisco flied to left for the second out, Cano delivered his homer.

After that, Kuroda cruised through the next three innings, allowing just one baserunner — which came by way of a Lyle Overbay error at first.

Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson pitched scoreless innings in relief before Mariano Rivera tossed a perfect ninth for his seventh save in as many chances.

Kuroda might not have felt as good as in his previous two starts, when he tossed a shutout against the Orioles and then limited Toronto to three hits and a run over 7 1/3 innings. but he still impressed his manager.

“From a mental standpoint, he was really tough-minded,” Girardi said. “He found a way.”